Date: Wed, 5 Jun 1996 04:15:16 -1000

From: Norman Roberts nroberts[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]HAWAII.EDU

Subject: Re: swooft/rustin



Up north in New England around the turn of the century give or take a

decade or two, the term "rusticating" was used to describe a marginal

college student who had been sent to live with a rural pastor to receive

tutoring in Latin and Greek. Popular regional novels of this period

usually have a "rusticating" student who among other things breaks hearts,

ruins young maids, and finally comes to a well deserved bad end. I've never

used the term, but I learned it from my sainted great aunt, she who was the

high school principal in 1910.

I wonder if the Mississippi folks just economized on a syllable here?